This invention relates to a vehicle wheel end assembly that includes a tire air pump to maintain tire pressure at a desired level.
Over the road vehicles, such as freight hauling tractor-trailers, can experience low tire inflation pressure, which results in excessive tread wear and/or premature failure of the tire itself. Due to the nature of freight hauling vehicle applications, it is difficult to monitor the tire pressure in each of the vehicle wheels, especially the trailer wheels.
One solution to this problem has been to incorporate a central tire inflation system (CTIS) on the vehicle. Typically, CTIS operates off a brake system air tank and is coupled to each of the tires on the tractor and/or trailer. Thus, pressurized air must be transferred from the air tank to the rotating wheel hub. Special seals and connections are required to transfer this pressurized air from a non-rotating component to a rotating tire. Further, the pressurized air must be routed from a central location to each of the wheels. This increases system costs and is labor intensive.
Thus, it is desirable to have a tire inflation mechanism that is self-contained at each wheel end to improve tire pressure maintenance at trailer axle wheel ends. Further, there is a need for a more cost effective and easily installed system.